Ukraine war: Nato expands Mihai Kogălniceanu airbase in Romania

Everyday life at MK base, for all this, is mostly calm. In front of base commander Nicolae Cretu’s office block, the seagulls and crows are noisily harvesting a row of cherry trees. In his semi-permanent office, Scott Delay of American Army Support – Black Sea, plans logistics for the 1,840 US personnel the base currently supports.

“We try to provide a home-like feel for them while they’re here. So it’s really no different than any community. It just has a fence around it.”

One thing US soldiers have trouble getting used to, he says, is that delivery times for items ordered on the internet can be weeks in Romania, rather than hours.

Before I leave the base, British pilot Charlie Tagg shows me round his plane. Up close, the Typhoon looks potent but a little aged. But the weapons, he explains, are upgraded all the time. It can now drop three different kinds of bombs.

“And we’re getting new radars in, which will allow us to detect and engage threats even further away.”